


Stunning Evidence

by Macx



Series: Denuo [55]
Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Magic, Paranormal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-13
Updated: 2011-05-13
Packaged: 2017-10-19 08:43:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/199007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Macx/pseuds/Macx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>David Hodges... in love? Wow... He thinks so himself. Too bad that the woman in question seems kind of unattainable and completely out of his league.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stunning Evidence

 

 

His gaze rested on the sole figure in the dark DNA lab, her smooth, delicate features lit up by the blue UV light as she worked the sheets and marked DNA spots. Scissors cut into the fabric, removing it, then she went on to find more evidence.

Slow, methodical, alone in that glass cubicle that looked like an oversized fish tank.

And he watched.

His eyes were on her, but his mind was far away. Away from this lab, away from this woman. Mia Dickerson was an attractive woman, no doubt. He would be a fool not to admire her grace, her smile, her eyes, her mind, her… everything. He had been struck by her presence the moment she had started to work for the LVPD crime lab.

He had never acted.

David Hodges was a lot of things, but he wasn't a womanizer. He didn't stalk them into submission, he didn't shower them with unwanted attention. He tested the waters and Mia had told him she wasn't interested.

But… she reminded him of someone.

Someone just as untouchable.

He involuntarily clenched the hand of his recently injured arm into a fist, felt the still sore muscles protest, and he let the minor pain and twinges tear through the abused limb. It was a sensation that swiftly brought him back to reality.

"It's hard to look and not touch."

Startled, he turned around and found himself looking at Catherine Willows.

“Ah… you see, I…”

He stammered a reply that sounded completely false in his ears and her look told him she didn't believe one word. But she didn't know the truth. Mia wasn't the object of his affection. It was someone else and she was so completely out of his league, so totally not for him, Hodges knew he would never stand a chance. Friendship yes. More? No. Never.

Shaking his head at his own foolishness, at his hopes and dreams, he turned back to work.

* * *

His arm had healed without a scar, his inner fear of one certain vampire had been put aside, and David Hodges had slowly accepted that he had become a part of the famous Nexus. It had taken a while for him to accept that his passive status was now a thing of the past, but the need to help, to be of assistance to the paranormals who needed their allies, couldn't be denied. Growing up in this world and turning his back on it had never really worked. He had fought it long and hard, and he had lost.

But it wasn't a bad loss.

Actually, he couldn't really call it a defeat.

There were benefits to being the walking wounded when it came to Las Vegas. All the pain and hardship, the fear and terror and nightmares, had left him with something special. The problem was, he hadn't really recognized it until later.

Nandi was always there. She waited for him when he got off work, she called and they talked, she asked him to join her for lunch or dinner or even a coffee. The weekends were spent cruising the malls, which was such a simple thing to do. They even watched a movie together.

For two weeks now she hadn't left him to his own devices after work. Nandi spent time with him.

A beautiful woman spent time with someone like David Hodges.

Despite his first instinct to push her away, to end whatever friendship was developing, he didn't do it.

He liked the feeling of having a friend. He liked… her. And it was the reason why he kept looking at Mia at work. Both were beautiful, strong, intelligent, but where Mia might be coerced into a real date, Nandi Kidya Kunene was just a friend. A powerful shaman, a protector and guardian and watcher, and he was just… David. No one special. He was her duty and she just wanted to help him overcome his lingering fears.

“Okay, what’s her name?”

“What?”

Startled out of his thoughts he looked up and found Greg Sanders grinning back at him. The young criminalist and former lab rat was eyeing him openly.

“The woman you're dating, Hodges?”

He frowned. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”

"Oh, come on! Look at you! All new hair cut, real clothes, not that boy scout outfit… Did you lose weight?"

"Sanders!" he growled.

Greg chuckled and waved him off. "Okay, okay, no sweat. But whoever she is, she's good for you, man. Have fun!"

And he was gone.

Hodges remained staring at the empty door space.

Good for me?

Sure, he had gotten a new hair cut. Shorter, more unruly, and he liked it. It was less maintenance even. And his clothes… He didn't know when he had changed those. Maybe within the last week?

Nandi came to mind.

Because of her?

No. No, he didn't think so. She was a friend. She had helped him through a spot of trouble and she still had an open ear for him. They talked often, about his past, his youth, his mother, Raymond… just about everything. And they talked about her. Tentative questions on his side had been answered openly and without hesitation.

But more than a light friendship was out of the question.

He knew it.

He accepted it.

And like with so many things, he would enjoy the good times while they lasted. Routine would settle in all too soon.

* * *

Maybe it was a stupid idea, but Hodges didn't really linger on it all too much. It was a spur of the moment decision, something his mind had suddenly conjured, and he had found himself liking it. A sunny day, not too hot, a weekend, him in a good mood… why not invite Nandi to a day out at the lake? She had once mentioned that she had never been there. Strangely, the casually mentioned words had stuck.

So now he was here, in front of her rather non-descript house in a quiet, and expensive, neighborhood.

The door opened

Hodges gaped.

And swallowed.

And gaped some more.

There was a vision standing in the doorframe, smiling broadly at him, long wavy hair bound in a pony tail and haphazardly stuffed under a kerchief – which was sprinkled with tiny specks of fresh paint. He didn’t really know what had ridden him to come here or what he had expected, but certainly nothing like this. Of course Nandi wasn’t wearing her office attire at home and he had seen her in casual clothing before, knowing that she looked – normal. But he had never seen her wearing buttersoft jeans shorts and a simple worn sleeveless top…

“David.”

…showing lots of soft, coffee brown skin…

“David?”

….lots of skin…

“David, are you all right? Has something happened?”

That pulled him out of his thoughts – well, that, and the hand that was waving in front of his eyes.

“Yes… I mean no… I’m all right. I just happened to be in the neighborhood and thought of paying you a visit… sorry, I should’ve called, you’re busy. That was thoughtless of me,” he stammered.

“No, it’s all right. Come on in, David. I’m just about to have a break.”

She stepped aside to let him in and he entered, feeling like in a dream. In all the time they had known each other now, he had never been to her place. Sure, he knew where she lived, but he had never been inside.

The house was a reflection of Nandi, he thought as he hesitantly walked deeper inside. Soft colors, warm and inviting, with a hardwood floor, rugs, terracotta tiles that warmed the whole atmosphere of the room, pictures of wide landscapes on the walls. Deserts and mountains, the earth and everything associated with it. Gazing around, David had the sudden feeling of being protected, of being warm and embraced in a shield. He knew the sensation, had felt her powers around him often enough, and this was truly Nandi.

The smell of fresh paint drew him to a room just off the hallway and he glanced inside.

“Are you renovating?” Hodges asked.

“No, not really. I’m just painting the guestroom. Do you like the color?” she asked, her voice almost playful.

“I… uh, I haven’t seen it yet.”

“Well, then, take a look.”

So he stepped inside and found himself in a medium-sized room, devoid of all furniture. The floor was laminated, the walls partially white, the other half already painted in a dark cream color that went toward terracotta brown. There was a ladder, a lot of paint, brushes and whatnot.

“Wouldn’t it be easier, you know… just wave a hand and be done with it, or something?”

Nandi laughed. “Easier, yes. More fun, no. Catch!”

And before he consciously realized it he had his fingers closed around a paintbrush. He gazed at it in surprise, then looked at his host. Nandi smiled invitingly at him and soon he was spreading an unobtrusive warm beige color onto the nearest wall.

*

It was fun.

He would never have believed that painting a room would be entertaining, fun and so much more. Okay, so he looked like he had spattered more paint on himself than the walls, but he had enjoyed it. The room looked great. The smell of paint was predominant. With the furniture back in the room, it would look really nice. Like everything in the house.

“Soda?”

He turned away from his contemplation of the room and gave Nandi a smile. “Sure.”

She held out a caffeine drink and he took it, sipping at the cool liquid.

Yes, it felt good to accomplish something, even if it only was a small guest room. A smile stole over his lips and pride rose inside him. Stupid, really, but he couldn’t stop himself.

“It looks great,” Nandi’s soft voice reached his ears.

“Yeah. Got any more rooms to paint?” he joked.

She chuckled and suddenly reached out, touching his face. Hodges was startled, but her calmness calmed him in turn. Gentle fingers brushed over his cheek.

“Paint,” she only explained.

“Oh…”

Her nails lightly scratched off the offending paint and he shuddered. The sensation ran straight through him, along every nerve ending he seemed to possess, and it ended all down south in one specific center.

The scratching turned into a caress and suddenly she was close – very, very close; and he was acutely aware of the proximity as their eyes met.

I’ve been watching too many soaps lately, was the last real conscious thought Hodges had as she brushed his lips with hers, the sweet contact making his heartbeat speed up.

The mixed scents of fresh paint, warm breeze wafting in through the open window and something that was utterly Nandi, something like sun warmed wood and roiboos, made his head spin a little – or was it something entirely different? Hodges had no idea, but when Nandi softly broke the kiss and rose, stretching out her hand in an unspoken invitation he took it.

*

Her skin was as soft as he had imagined and he mapped every inch of it, trying to find spots that were ticklish and would make her giggle and others that would trigger more intimate reactions, like a sigh, a gasp or even a soft moan.

David Hodges wasn’t a virgin and he had never had any complaints from his former flings and lovers. He might not look the womanizer type, but those who had accepted his advances, who he had kissed and taken to bed, had been left satisfied. Relationships had never been longer than a few weeks, maybe months, but in that time sex had never been the problem. In the end, it also hadn’t been the reason for breaking up.

Nandi’s hands weren’t shy either and she definitely knew what she wanted, and how she’d get that. Deft fingers stroked over his body and he couldn’t but moan, claiming her lips and silencing the breathy moan as she finally welcomed him inside her.

* * *

He woke in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room, next to a person he knew quite well.

David gazed at the sleeping woman with a mixture of awe, dread, fear and elation. It was a mix of feelings that had him confused and happy in one. Finally the negative feelings won out and he slipped out of bed, gathering his clothes as quietly as possible, and tip-toed out of the bedroom. He went to the second bathroom that consisted of a shower, a toilet and a small sink. Looking into the mirror, he sneered at the face looking back.

"Fool," he whispered.

What had he been thinking?

The shower helped clear his head, washed away the reminders of their night, but it didn't help him with his emotions.

He had slept with Nandi.

She had slept with him.

Hodges viciously dried his short hair.

Damn!

Why did he have to destroy the best thing he had had in a while? Why did he have to sleep with a good friend?

Slipping into his clothes, his mind somersaulted over everything, coming to screeching halts more often than not, and while he knew that he hadn't forced Nandi into this… this wonderful night, he blamed himself for ending something special.

She wasn't the woman for him. She was out of his league, played on a different level. She was a shaman, damnit! He was simply a man, human, with no paranormal hiccup in his genes. He stood no chance against anyone else who might try to woo her.

Like that platinum blond hunk of an assistant. Leo Gospel. Now there was someone more suited for a woman in her position, with her power, with her… looks.

David groaned miserably and closed the last buttons on his shirt.

Maybe a transfer out of Las Vegas wouldn't be so bad now. He had survived the whole vampire fiasco, had finally found a place with the lab and he had friends… and he had completely ruined it because he couldn't keep himself in check.

Shit!

Praying that Nandi was still asleep, Hodges opened the bathroom door and checked the hallway. No one in sight.

He walked toward the door.

Why did it hurt to just sneak out of her life? he wondered.

He should be man enough to face her, look her in the eyes and tell her it was a mistake.

But he couldn't.

He had never been the confrontational type.

Luck was on his side.

He left the house, the property, walked over to his car and drove away.  
   
 

He didn't know that someone was actually watching him. Dark brown eyes, filled with mixed emotions. Nandi's expression gave nothing away as she followed the car until it turned a corner. Then she stepped away from the window and closed her eyes, her magic stretching out and roaming through her home. She felt the spot of sadness, of fear and pain, coming from the guest bathroom, and she shook her head.

"You don't know me, David," she whispered.

* * *

Hodges had spent the rest of Sunday trying not to think about Saturday, about their night of passion, about the lingering feeling of it being so right, of feeling so wonderful. So he gambled a little, won and lost, and didn’t care. He never stayed long in one joint, always changing places as if to make himself untraceable, but he knew Nandi could find him if she wanted to.

She was a shaman after all.

But she didn’t show up.

David returned home late on Sunday, relieved that Monday was a late shift. He watched some more TV, flipping through the channels and grimacing at all the soaps and romance movies.

Great.

Rub it in.

Monday came and went, and while Hodges worked with the same eye for detail as usual, he kept on flashing to that night.

One night.

With Nandi.

And he was a puddle of mush.

Screwing his eyes shut, inhaling deeply, he forcefully put her from his mind. It didn’t help that looking at Mia reminded him of that encounter. The poor girl had done nothing.

When he left work, feeling more snappy than ever, the tension growing, David knew he had to do something about this. About his feelings… about… about… what he thought had happened.

I fell in love, he groaned to himself, making his way to his car. I fell in love with the wrong woman, damnit!

Yeah, leaving Vegas was looking better and better. It wasn’t like he could expect Nandi to disappear; she was the shaman of this place. If anything, it was Hodges who had to go if he couldn’t handle this.

Could he?

Did he want to?

Want what? he asked himself. Leave or handle it?

Well, actually neither of the two.

There was movement just in front of him and he suddenly bumped into a human body, stumbling back. Eyes wide, an apology flew over his lips, but it died quickly as he looked into a pair of dark brown eyes.

“N-nandi… uh… hi…”

“Hello, David.”

He swallowed, feeling the blood rush to his face at her intense gaze.

“Can we talk?” she asked.

“I-ah-well-uh…” Very good, Hodges. Stammer away, a voice sneered at him. “Sure.”

He looked around helplessly. They were in the parking lot and except for the usual joint near-by there was no bar or something.

“Would you come back to the Shaman with me?” she asked.

He nodded slowly. Sure, why not? It was better than his place, which was a mess. He wasn’t messy as a rule, but he had found little energy this weekend to clean up a week’s worth of debris from all work and no time to clean up every night.

Nandi touched him and gave him a calm smile. “Don’t be scared.”

And then the world blurred out around him. For a second there was nothing but darkness, a blackness so deep he almost screamed, and then there was light and warmth and the feeling of safety. David blinked, inhaling deeply as if he had just been under water for eternity.

He was in a well-known room, an office, at the Shaman. The world outside was still dark, lit up with millions of lights from the Strip,

“What…?” he stuttered.

Nandi gave him a little grin. “Shaman trick of fast travel.”

“Uh-huh…”

He had next to no knowledge about shamans. No wonder. Until a little while ago he hadn’t even known they truly existed. Like many things, shamans liked to hide. Now he knew one, had slept with her and… his thoughts came to a screeching halt.

Let’s not go there.

“It’s no more dangerous than driving here, David,” Nandi explained.

“Uh-huh…”

And his ability to talk had suffered greatly.

“Do you want something to drink? Something to eat?”

“Uhm, no, thanks… I… what did you want to talk about?”

What else but the night of hot sex, you moron? his mind reminded him. This was the speech he had been waiting for. Thanks for the night but no thanks. Maybe even a ‘you sucked, but hey, it was fun’. Who knew? Maybe he had been just a fling. Yeah, that was probably it. She most likely had to fend off advances from much better men with a stick.

“David?”

Her voice close by drew him out of his morose thoughts.

And since when was he the one to become morose or depressed over a woman dumping him? It wasn’t like he didn’t do the dumping game, too.

“We need to talk,” Nandi said.

“About what?”

“Us.”

There’s an us? he thought, surprised.

“Us?” he echoed.

She nodded. “You, me... What happened.”

“Listen, it’s okay, hm? We had a nice night and before you think up all kinds of things as to how to tell me it was a one night stand, don’t. It’s okay.”

“I wasn’t thinking about excuses and it wasn’t a one night stand for me.”

That had him speechless. “No?” he stammered.

“No. I’d like to continue this.”

“You do?”

Hodges knew he sounded stupid, but hell, there was a gorgeous woman, a shaman for crying out loud, telling him she wanted more than a one night encounter between the sheets. With him?!

“Yes, I do. I thought we had a connection, David.”

He swallowed, his mouth dry.

“But if you don’t want this, tell me. It’s okay.”

“Don’t want this? I… I’d like to…uh… see you again.” He felt like a teenager.

Nandi’s smile was radiant and it went right down south again.

“But why me?” he blurted.

She tilted her head a little. “Because I like you a lot, David. Maybe even more.”

Something inside of him froze. No way! No, no, no.

“M-more?”

“Yes.” Her dark brown eyes were steady as she held his gaze.

“Why?”

“Because I like you a lot,” she repeated.

“But… but you’re… a shaman! And I’m just… well, just… me…”

“Isn’t that enough? To be you?”

He was stunned, speechless, and slightly panicky. Well, delete the slightly. Make it a ‘big time and so screwed’.

“As for what I am… David, I’m me. I’m a normal woman and I work a normal job.”

“You’re a shaman,” he repeated doggedly.

“And shamans aren’t allowed to love?”

And here was the key word. Love. She loved him? Him, David Hodges? Anal retentive lab tech? He flushed at the emotions echoing her words. Because he felt so much, too.

“Shamans are normal people, David,” she went on. “They are human, like all other paranormals. Do you think they live in celibacy?”

“Uh, no, but… me? You like me? I’m… no one.”

“You’re David Hodges,” Nandi replied, voice gentling.

He stood frozen to the spot, shocked by her words, by the emotions relayed through them, and by his own response. He was… inadequate compare to her. He was… nothing; no one… and she was everything. She was a powerful shaman, decades old, and a beautiful, intelligent woman on top.

As if reading his thoughts, Nandi stepped closer.

“David, you have a better education than I have. You went to college, you were taught all those things like math and English and literature, chemistry and physics, and so on. I was a slave. I ran one day and never looked back.”

Shock coursed through him at her words. Slave? part of him echoed faintly.

“But.. you’re a shaman…” was all he managed, clinging to that truth.

“And what does that mean? I shape nature magic, yes. Shamans come from all cultures, from all educations. There are those among us who cannot read or write. There are those who can’t speak any other language than their own. David, if someone should be ashamed, it would be me.”

“But…”

“What you see is the business front. You see me in expensive outfits, but my past was marked by rags, by sleeping on the ground and eating old food. I was kept as a slave, as a pet, as a toy. I was an object, to be sold if the master wanted it so.”

Hodges stared at her. His whole concept of who and what Nandi Kidja Kunene was had suddenly been destroyed.

“David, I envy you. I envy you your life, as bad as it seemed for you. You had a mother, a family, you didn’t have to fear for the next day, for your life. You never watched strangers come by and take what they want.”

“W-what?”

“You’re an ally, David. You should know that the surface can be deceiving. I’m not a goddess. I’m not unreachable. I’m fallible and human and very much a woman.

He swallowed, clearly not accepting her kind words. "Nandi…"

"I was a slave, David. Plain and simple. When I was born, I was nothing but an object to my masters."

He shook his head again, but she continued, determined.

"I grew up working for the white men who owned my family and so many more. I only knew from tales that my grandparents had come from a continent where no white men owned us. I survived all the harshness of child labor, unlike many of my friends. I was beautiful and caught the eye of many a master, and I was kept as a kitchen aid and bed mate. I was never more than a toy for them, to be used. I lost my virginity at the age of fourteen, David."

He paled, hands clenching.

"At the time it was actually no crime," she went on, voice hard. "It was a time when my kind was seen as nothing but property. We had no rights, no lives… A shaman came to stay in the slave town and when she died, her powers were transferred into me. I never knew why until much later. Not everyone is predestined to be a shaman or is able to house one's powers. Conrad is a bright example for such accidents. My roots are deep within my homeland, despite the fact that I wasn't even born there."

Nandi gazed at him, suddenly calm and serene.

"I feel very much bound to the earth and everything connected with it. I always had this inner peace and it let me endure everything of my past. With the shaman's death I never had much teachings, so I did it myself. And I freed myself of my life as a slave and I ran. I hid wherever I was welcomed and I helped those in need of shamanic aide."

It sounded like a cheap romance novel, but Hodges knew there was hardly anything romantic about it. This was a harsh reality, a life that had happened and wasn't just fictional.

"I never learned to write or read, David. I taught myself. I have no school education at all. I spent decades trying to survive in this world and as a shaman because despite my powers, I was scarred. Badly."

David hesitantly reached out and brushed a hand over hers. She smiled and took it, holding on tight.

"It was a long time ago," Nandi said softly.

"But you still remember every detail."

"A shaman's curse and blessing. We remember a lot of things."

He nodded slowly. "How… did you come here?"

"I started in the Shaman as an interior decorator and advisor for art," Nandi replied, smiling at the memories. "I loved art and I had had a few random jobs in the beginning with artists and decorators. In my first meeting with Ezra, he asked me why I thought I was the right person for the job."

"And?"

She grinned more. "I told him: your hotel is called The Shaman. You’re going for the tribal motive. I’m the best you can get -- I’m native." That kind of had him speechless. We connected in a way. He allowed me to work with my ideas and I created the interior you see today. It was after that job was done that he asked if I was interested to work for him. I was. In the end I became the manager."

A little shrug ended the story and Hodges looked into those dark eyes, reading so much more in there that no words could ever tell.

Suddenly Nandi leaned forward and kissed him, a gentle brush of lips against lips, and he responded automatically. When they separated, she smiled softly.

"I'm not out of your league, David. If anything, you would be out of mine. You're educated, you studied, you have diplomas. You know everything about biochemistry and technology involving crime scenes. I'm in awe at what you were taught. I'd be hard pressed to understand those equations and whatever you do."

Hodges froze. "W-what? But… you're a shaman!"

"It's something that was given to me. Magic. Earth magic. It's not knowledge like you have, like Conrad has. He'll be a very powerful shaman one day and he already is a powerful man. You both know more than I learned in all the decades I lived by now."

"Nandi…" He placed a finger over her lips. "Please… stop…"

She kissed his finger tips. "If you do, too. You're not inadequate, David."

And then her lips were on his again. His body tingled with the kiss and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her against him, feeling her body melt against his own.

“I love you, David,” Nandi whispered when they separated. “I want to be with you.” Her eyes twinkled. “Think you can handle that?”

He gave a weak laugh. “I guess. Yeah… I think so…”

“I hope so, because I want this very much.”

Really, part of him asked, faint with giddiness. Wow, really…

Nandi still smiled that light smile, her eyes so deep and warm and dark… Hodges thought he could lose himself in them.

“How about something to drink now?” she asked.

“Sure.”

“Here? Or do you want to make it a date? Go somewhere?”

Go somewhere… be seen with her… like he had been seen in the past, but back then they had been friends. Now… now they were… dating. Wow…

“How about the Walkabout?” he heard himself ask.

He liked the quaint little restaurant that belonged to the Shaman Hotel.

Nandi nodded. “Great. I’ll call Leo, let him know I’ll be busy for the rest of the day. He can handle things.”

David watched her do just that, trying to handle the new feelings coursing through him, the knowledge that Nandi had the same feelings for him as he had for her.

His life was about to change, part of him whispered. But he wanted it to. He really, really wanted it.  
   
 

So? Bad? Horrible? Passable for a het story? :)


End file.
